Ferran Adria: The chef without a restaurant has big ideas

By Peter Bale and Juan Andres Munoz, CNN

Updated 7:24 PM ET, Mon June 23, 2014

Ferran Adria's new elBulli Foundation5 photos

Cooking is not enough – Ferran Adria, the man who led Spain's elBulli to five "world's best restaurant" titles has a bold new venture. His elBulli Foundation will promote his "theory of everything," a model to unlock creativity in any walk of life.

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Ferran Adria's new elBulli Foundation5 photos

Visitor center – Adria's elBulli Foundation will encompass everything from an Internet search engine of gastronomy called Bullipedia to a food laboratory to a visitor center (proposal model pictured).

Pina coladas, elBulli-style – A pioneer in molecular gastronomy, Adria has developed new methods such as nitrogen-infused foams. Innovative drinks and dishes served at the now-closed elBulli included pina coladas (pictured) and frozen whisky sour candy.

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Ferran Adria's new elBulli Foundation5 photos

Polymath, control freak, philosopher – Adria speaks with his hands as much as his mouth, kneading the air as if it were pastry, pinching fingers together to make points as if adding salt. He waves his arms so vigorously you're glad he's not wielding a kitchen knife.

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Story highlights

Former head chef of Spain's elBulli, is launching a new venture

Ferran Adria's elBulli Foundation will include a search engine of gastronomy and visitor center

Adria says he's come up with a "theory of everything" ... a model to unlock creativity in any walk of life

His "creativity map" outlines the process that takes an idea from inspiration to finished product

What does an acclaimed chef do for an encore after he's closed the best restaurant in the world?

For Ferran Adria, former head chef of Spain's elBulli, it's creating a new menu of big ideas.

Called the elBulli Foundation, Adria's new umbrella enterprise will encompass everything from an Internet search engine of gastronomy to a food laboratory to a huge visitor center.

All of this is necessary, he says, to explain his theories not just about cooking but about creativity writ large.

"Here you will eat knowledge," says the great chef of his elBulli Foundation.

More like a physicist or philosopher than a chef, Adria says he's come up with a "theory of everything" -- a model to unlock creativity in any walk of life.

"This is not about cooking. It's about creativity," he says, speaking through a translator while walking through the building that will house his new operation, an abandoned textile factory, in Barcelona, home to great Catalan innovators such as architect Antoni Gaudi and surrealist paint Salvador Dali .

The elBulli Foundation will spawn a research laboratory, BulliPedia (an online encyclopedia of food) and massive open online courses to teach gastronomy and creativity.

"I am a cook but no one else is thinking these things," he says.

He believes Bullipedia will become the most disruptive Internet venture since Wikipedia.

Adria tends to speak of himself as "we."

It's his way of recognizing his collaborators, some of who have gone on to create their own great restaurants.

"We have thought many times that we are crazy," he says. "If that is so then we must be changing many things."

With the passion of the self-taught, Adria speaks with his hands as much as his mouth, kneading the air as if it were pastry, pinching fingers together to make points as if adding salt.

A sprawling library houses every recipe ever cooked at elBulli and an archive of food and recipes going back to the 15th century.

"In 1768 there was black truffle ice cream," says the man who created liquid olives. "If you think I do crazy things, that's even more amazing. The things that were done many years ago were so far ahead of their time."

Adria is planning what he says will be the first exhibition of its kind about the creative process, set for an October opening at Telefonica exhibition space in Madrid.

The "Investigación y del Método Científico" will be an examination of the scientific methods behind elBulli.

At the center of the exhibition is a Creativity Map, a sort of astrological chart outlining the process that takes an idea through trial and error to finished product.

"Everything is in the map," he says, explaining how the broad chart can provide the answer to almost anything.

Adria is free with his advice and major institutions around the world seek his input. He lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.